Psoralea brilliantissima C.H.Stirt., Muasya & A.Bello

Species

Angiosperms > Fabales > Fabaceae > Psoralea

Characteristics

Small to large robust shrubs up to 3 m tall, reseeder. Stems erect, single, multi-branched, branching in upper parts, forming an umbrella shape, rigid, trunks short, grey, branches brown. Seasonal shoots pale green, glabrous or glabrescent, appressed, clustered, angular, very strong sweet odour. Leaves (5)7-9-foliolate, distributed along the seasonal shoots, erect or patent, soft, petiolate; leaflets 30-35 x 0.3-0.6 mm, linear lanceolate, terminal leaflet shortest or equal to the basal pair which are longest, rounded abaxially, flattened and grooved adaxially, three uppermost digitately to occasionally pinnately inserted; petioles 3-4 mm long, grooved, shorter than terminal leaflet; rachis 10-15 mm long; stipules 1-1.7 mm long, rapidly senescent, persistent, shorter than petiole, subulate, glabrous, margins unrolled away from the axis, stiff, callose, leaving a raised scar when senescent. Inflorescences axillary, borne in upper axils of seasonal shoots without leafy extension, pseudo-capitate, congested, 3-6 flowers per axil, pedunculate, pedicellate; peduncles stout and rigid with black hairs, 25-35 mm long; cupulum overlapping the calyx, bilobed, with a 3 mm cleft in vexillary pair, sparsely hairy, lobes equally developed, broadly ovate, apex acuminate, greenish when young, senescent but persistent at anthesis; pedicels 2.5-2.7 mm long, with black hairs. Flowers 13-14 mm long, intense hyacinth blue, each flower shoot set subtended on the stem side by a pair of small free caducous bracts. Calyx 7-8 mm long, tube 4-5 x 4 mm, covered with a mixture of finely black and white hairs, glabrous inside; lobes equally developed, shorter than the tube, acuminate, carinal widest, 1.5-2 mm long, triangular, vexillar fused for half their length, densely black hairy inside, more sparsely outside, glandular. Standard petal 10-12 x 8.5-9.5 mm, broadly ovate, intense hyacinth blue, margin pale mauve, with a large white M-shaped nectar guide, visible from behind, with a small deep purple crotch; appendages well developed, free, veins paler; claw 2-4 mm long, elongated and narrow. Wing petals 10 x 3-3.5 mm, distal half mauve, the rest white, sculpturing present, upper base comprised of 8-10 transcostal lamellae, pocket well developed, auricle swollen; claw 3-4 mm long. Keel 9-10 x 2.5-3.5 mm; claw 3-4 mm long. Androecium 8-9 mm long, tenth stamen free, fenestrate. Pistil 8 mm long, ovary 1-1.5 mm long, stalked at upper end covered in club-shaped glands, style 6 mm long straight and then curved upwards, height of curvature of style 2 mm, thickest at point of flexure, stigma penicillate. Fruits 4-5 x 2.5-3.0 mm, oblong. Seeds 2-4 x 2 mm, dark brown to black.
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Growth form shrub
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Sexuality hermaphrodite
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Mature height (meter) 3.0
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Nitrogen fixer rhizobia
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Soil texture 3-6
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Usage

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Cultivation

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Distribution

Psoralea brilliantissima world distribution map, present in South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77165946-1
WFO ID wfo-0001420975
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Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Psoralea brilliantissima